Facebook has introduced a new protection function called Protect to users of its iOS application. The name attracts unsuspecting users to install a free application. It's nothing more than the VPN that Facebook owns. The network is designed to collect and analyze user data in order to "improve the quality of Facebook products and services."
The fact is that Facebook acquired the company Onavo, focused on the development of security programs, as early as 2013. Thus, this social network is the owner of an application for iOS called Onavo Protect, modestly hiding in the settings of the Facebook application under the label Protect ("Protection").
While users are downloading a VPN application to achieve the promised "peace of mind" and "additional level of security", Facebook collects and analyzes user data in order to improve its own service - products and services.
Let's take a look at the description of the program. Only after the paragraph with the information on protection provided by Onavo, and several items describing the work of the service, the company warns that the software is essentially spyware. This information is prudently hidden under the additional link "More" both in the App Store itself and in the English version of the iTunes website . It should be noted that in the translated version of the site (in Russian), this warning is not available today.
As part of providing this level of protection, Onavo uses a VPN to establish a secure connection to manage all of your network communications through Onavo servers. During this process, Onavo collects traffic from your mobile data. This helps us to improve and optimize Onavo services based on the analysis of your use of websites, applications and data. Because we are part of Facebook, we also use this data to improve the quality of Facebook products and services, to obtain information about products and services that users appreciate, and to improve the experience.
Although someone can safely treat the confidentiality of their data on a free VPN client, many users probably do not even suspect that Onavo Protect is a specialized spyware program for Facebook, and can get caught in the marketing trap of a social network - as in the settings the Facebook app itself, and on the App Store.
It is known that the program Onavo Protect has already installed 33 million users, among which the share of iPhone and iPad owners account for 38%, while the remaining 62% are owners of Android-devices.
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